Get the Rookie newsletter!

Leave this field empty if you're human:

November's theme is EVOLUTION. For details on how to send us your work, please read our Submit page. ✴

About Rookie

Rookie is an online magazine and book series for teenagers. Each month, a different editorial theme drives the writing, photography, and artwork that we publish. Learn more about us here, and find out how to submit your work here!

Next Article

THE NEW MILEY CYRUS SONG! It sounds terrific! Her voice on the chorus is radiant and defiant, singing “We can’t stop! And we won’t stop!” over a buzzy beat by Mike Will Made It, the producer of some of the biggest party anthems of the past two years (Future’s “Turn On the Lights,” Rihanna’s “Pour It Up,” Ciara’s “Body Party,” et cetera). The lyrics set it up like something that could have happened to Miley’s “Party in the USA” character—a homesick girl who just left Nashville to follow her “dream” in Hollywood—a few years after getting full-bore sucked into the Los Angeles underbelly. That includes house parties that end at dawn (“red cups and sweaty bodies everywhere”), adult dancing (“shaking it like we at a strip club”), and drugs (“trying to get a line in the bathroom”).

I like the implication of freedom in the song, like when she sings “only God can judge us,” “we don’t take nothing from nobody,” and “we can kiss who we want” (the last of which seems to be a shoutout to LGBTQ homies). It’s definitely Miley asserting her bad-girlishness and breaking out of the Hannah Montana purity ring. In those ways, it’s really liberating—no woman should be expected by the public (i.e., complete strangers) to be as perfect as Miley was supposed to be. But there’s still a lot to unpack in there, and that’s why I’ve listened to it about 675 times already!Kendra

While searching for my daily dose of documentaries, I stumbled across this one about Björk by Björk that was originally released in 2003 but uploaded to YouTube earlier this week. Björk is one of my biggest inspirations, and this beautiful little film offers a glimpse into her head. You see her artistic process and how much the natural world has influenced her unearthly music. And after watching it, you might just feel compelled to run away to a surreal forest or iceberg.Anaheed

Have you all been watching Awkward Black Girl? So funny, so so good. Amanda de Cadenet posted her interview with its creator, Issa Rae, last Saturday. There’s a point where Issa describes a meeting she had with a “nonblack [TV] executive” who told her that people won’t watch a show about black people unless there’s a celebrity in the lead role. “I don’t think that executives right now, the people in charge, think that people of color—and black people especially—are relatable,” she says, “They’re ‘not mainstream enough’…black turns people off.” So she kept her stuff on the internet and now ABG has more than a million viewers and is being developed into a movie—and Issa’s working on a show for television with the incredible Shonda Rhimes. HA-ha, dumb TV executive(s). Here’s the vid:

Rose

My two obsessions are Ancient Egypt and underwater exploration. So when I read about the discovery of the long-lost Egyptian city of Thonis-Heracleion at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, at first I wasn’t sure if it was real life or just my fantasy. Well, it’s 100 percent true, and there’s proof: Archaeologists have been documenting their scuba-enabled digs of the site, which has been submerged for more than a thousand years. As if their photos weren’t mindblowing enough on their own, there’s also this video of what it’s like to swim above the sleeping ruins:

Lena

This video, which made its way around the internet this week, of a Russian boy in a club dancing like he’s the Great Spirit of Fun Times, raises a few questions: Can children really go to nightclubs in Russia? Did this kid learn how to dance from his parents? Speaking of his parents: WHERE ARE THEY? And finally, why can’t I just be him?

David Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure” has been one of my favorite songs since I got Classic Queen for Christmas when I was 12. The very existence of this totally bare-bones a cappella version—the exact OPPOSITE of the completely over-the-top original of “Under Pressure”—is its own kind of gift. It made me cringe a little (like from the first moment they blurt out “Pressure!”) but also get misty eyed (like when David sings backup ahhh ahhhhs to Freddie Mercury’s first big solo). ♦

Thank you, that’s interesting: so far I’ve seen only some minutes but I have always wondered what was her opinion on that (as an harry potter lover, but also as a girl disturbed by some of her choices).

That underwater Egyptian city is the coolest thing I have ever seen. It’s awesome that it’s so well preserved. And that little Russian kid is just too much. How did he even get into a nightclub?? He’s like 7.

I love everything in this post! I’m usually not really into ‘mainstream’ pop music, but I really love Miley’s New album. It sounds unique while still being super catchy and poppy. I love her! And I’m super excited to read that riot grrrl book, don’t even get me started on the awesomeness of the underground city…..

i’m 16 and Queen is my favorite band in the WORLD ok, and trust me there is a secret niche of teen girl Queen fans on tumblr. but it’s the kind who write slash fiction about them so i don’t exactly view that as a positive thing

I really love all these links, (especially the Björk documentary!) but I was also quite looking forward to a mention of the huge protests going on in Turkey, my home country. It is a huge development, with thousands of people from every belief system, age group, ethnic origin, sexual orientation etc. in the streets standing up peacefully (mostly) to police brutality and an increasingly authoritarian prime minister. To anyone who is interested, there are amazing photos on this tumblr: occupygezipics.tumblr.com and a 7-minute video summarising the events of the last two weeks here: !
Also, I found a video of a Turkish college student who explains quite eloquently the situation in Turkey since Erdogan, the prime minister, has been in power:
I just wanted to raise awareness by posting this because it’s a matter that means a lot to me, I hope you understand. :)